Restraining Mischief
by BlackColoredPencils
Summary: SPOILERS for Avengers Infinity War Loki had sworn his undying fidelity to Thanos, hadn't he? Then Thanos wouldn't let Loki die and get off the hook so easily. He has better plans for the God of Mischief. How will Loki escape now? Rated T just in case...
1. Chapter 1

_**SPOILERS FOR INFINITY WAR**_

 _ **I don't own Marvel. If I did, Loki would have his own movie by now, and he would still be alive.**_

Life surged back through his lungs so painfully, Loki could barely breathe. Loki rasped for air, coughing painfully and his eyes watering at the pain. He felt at his throat, wincing at the pain of just touching it. He blinked around the room, his eyes refusing to focus immediately. It was dark all around him, but there was a slate-gray blur of the walls of a small, square room around him, and the lighting was very poor and flickering.

 _How am I still alive?_

Loki's breaths were hollow and his heart pounded in terror of that memory of Thanos crushing his throat. He hated himself for being so weak, and so easily overtaken. He had hoped that he stood a chance.

But where was he? And how was he still breathing? Where was Thor and the Asgardians?

Loki shuddered and stagggered to his feet as a gap of the wall slid into the ceiling and a tall, thin, and pale alien stepped into the room with a flat face and no nose. Loki recognized him. _Ebony Maw_.

Loki scowled, trying to speak, but all that came out was a fit of throbbing, rasping coughs. It tore up his already mangled throat and bit into his lungs. He grit his teeth, finally catching his voice, which was hoarse and silent.

"Why am I here? I thought that Thanos had declined my offer."

Loki's attempt to sound confident and collected fell apart merely at his rasped voice. He grimaced at the sound of his own voice, and forced to keep his stare steady at Ebony Maw and keep the fear out of his face.

Ebony Maw smiled, but not kindly. "The Great Thanos has merely demonstrated what would happen to you if you fail to please him once again. Your attempt to harm the Great Thanos has resulted in your... temporary demise. Fail to serve Thanos properly this time will lead to a more permanent death. He still has use of you, and he hopes that you will not disappoint. You have tasted one of the more merciful forms of death that Thanos is capable of causing. Would you really like to see what other things he can do to you?"

Loki involuntarily shivered, but asked, "Where's my brother?"

Ebony Maw's grin grew almost mockingly solemn. "The Great Thanos in his good wisdom has allowed Thor Odinson to join him in the multitude of his children as a sacrifice for the good of the universe. You should be honored to have him die such a noble, meaningful death. For even in death, he has been deemed a child of Thanos, as will you be. You will join the living children of Thanos and will gain purpose once again as you serve collective good of the universe."

Loki looked down at his feet, barely believing it. Thor couldn't be dead! How could he be? Ebony Maw was lying!

but Loki thought on it silently for a brief moment. If Ebony Maw was telling the truth about Loki being brought back to life, then Thor must have been that stubborn, emotional brother, refusing to leave Loki's lifeless body just to await his own demise. Loki internally cursed at Thor's stupidity, wishing he could have chosen his "last words" more wisely, and tell Thor to run and save himself.

Loki looked up at Ebony Maw again, drained of any hope of a better life. He was condemned to stay and serve at the murderous hands of Thanos once again.

"The Great Thanos awaits your arrival. We must not be idle to keep him waiting. Come."

Ebony Maw motioned for Loki to follow with a wave of his long arm. Loki lifted his chin, wiping any sign of fear off of his face once again, and silently followed The Maw.

Loki was led past flickering gray hallways and into a vast, dark room. The walls and floor seemed to be made of rough stone, and in the middle of the room was a large, stone throne, occupied by a giant purple alien in golden armor. Loki's heart pounded in fear. Thanos. The memory of that same Titan choking him to death flashed before him, but Loki shook off the thought, keeping his face normal, and trying to restrain his hands from rubbing at his sore throat. Loki glanced towards Thanos's big golden gauntlet on his hand, noticing the two Infinity Stones it now bore. The shimmering blue Space Stone, and the beaming violet Power Stone. The Power Stone was shining especially bright, which Loki couldn't help but wonder why it was that way at this moment.

Thanos stood up from his throne, towering over Loki.

"Thank you, Ebony Maw." Thanos said in his rumbling low voice. "Now stand by with the Black Dwarf to await further instructions."

Ebony Maw bowed low to the floor. "Yes, Great Thanos. It would give me great pleasure to serve to your glorious purpose." Ebony Maw rose, then left. Loki surprised himself by almost wanting Ebony Maw to stay, so that he would not be left alone with the powerful Titan.

Once Ebony Maw was out of sight, Loki noticed Thanos take a step closer to him. Loki stood his ground reluctantly, and kept his eyes steadily locked into Thanos's.

"Did you kill my brother?" Loki asked before he could stop himself. Thanos's eyes softened.

"I apologize for your loss, Loki. Strange, though, isn't it? He was slain by the same Stone that keeps you alive."

Loki looked back at the beaming purple Power Stone in realization. He looked down at his hands, which he now noticed had a slight purple glow around them. He sighed through his teeth, glaring. "Why didn't you just kill me?"

"You offered me your 'undying fidelity', I believe that is how you put it. And yes, I did kill you, to bind your life entirely to what I now possess. If you betray me again;"

Thanos clenched his fist in the golden gauntlet, and the purple stone began to fade. Loki suddenly felt agonizing pain all around his throat, as if Thanos's giant hand was once again wrapped around it, crushing his neck. Loki tried to gasp for breath, but his throats felt too tight. His lungs felt like they were collapsing inward from lack of air. Loki fell to his knees, barely holding himself from the ground with his weak arms pushed against the rough ground. Blackness began to cloud his vision as Loki gaped breathlessly like a fish. He could barely see Thanos's blurry, towering figure above him. The pain was unbearable, and for a moment, Loki thought he would die again.

Then the invisible grip around Loki's burning throat suddenly vanished, and Loki gasped for air, coughing and gagging over his own breath. Loki coughed on the ground for a moment with his eyes wide with pain and fear, but eventually regained footing and weakly got to his feet. He stared at Thanos in horror, and saw that the purple Power Stone was once again glowing brightly.

"Do you understand now?" Thanos said. "No more ressurections for the God of Mischief. You are mine now. The Power Stone is the only thing keeping you alive. It would be unwise to betray me."

Loki continued to gasp for air, but nodded in understanding with his mouth still agape. He was caught. Caged. Controlled. Inwardly, he wondered, how on Yggdrasil would he ever get out of this


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys! I just looked back at my first chapter, noticing all of this typos (I've been typing this on my phone so far), and tried to fix them, but there's some sort of glitchy thing that doesn't let me fix it... sorry for the typos!**

 **But anyways... Onward!**

"So I'm your... puppet." Loki said in disgust once he had caught his breath.

"Interesting analogy." Thanos said. "Maybe so."

Loki sighed, staring at the towering Titan before him with regret. "Then what puppetwork to you have for me?"

Thanos stepped closer, Loki wincing in fear. "You had experience on Earth. What of it?"

Loki frowned. "Ahh... Yes. Midgard. The Midgardians retaliate quite violently. They had a particularly feisty group backlashing in New York when I arrived there with the Chutari. They call themselves the Avengers. I would watch out for them if I were you. There were only six of them fighting against the Chutari the time I came, and I can guarantee that their team has grown thus far. Thor is- - _was_ one of them. Other than that, their standard militia is fairly primative as far as I know."

"And what if the Infinity Stones?" Thanos asked thoughtfully.

Loki still glanced at him warily but replied, "I am not currently aware of their wherabouts. You mentioned there were two on Midgard? Then I can assume that the Avengers may be in possession of, or at least aware of the current location of at least one of the Stones."

Then Loki remembered seeing Doctor Strange, and sensing that strange, powerful magic around him that had not been from his primitive enchantments.

"Actually." Loki said. "I think I know where one of the Stones might be."

"Where?" Thanos said.

"New York." Loki said. "In the Sactum Sactorium of the primitive Midgardian sorcerers, there is a man by the name of Strange. I believe he may have, or at least know of the Time Stone."

Thanos grinned. "If this is true, I should send you to investigate. Remember; if you turn an inch in the wrong direction;"

Thanos began to close his gauntlet-clad fist, but Loki quickly held up his hands "Alright! I get the point. No further demonstration would be nessessary."

"Good," Thanos said, relaxing his hand. "Then I'll have a ship and crew ready for you."

Loki shook his head. "Their scanners will find us before we arrive if we have a ship of that size. Panic will spread across Midgard, and they will be preparing themselves for more. I would suggest a stealth vessel."

"Very well." Thanos said. "You can go solo on this mission, but remember the consequences of betrayal. I can watch you while you're not here. I'm watching your every move."

"I get the point." Loki said, sighing. "I won't let you down this time."

"You better not." Thanos said.

 **Sorry this chapter was short! I'll try to add more soon!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Oh my gosh! You guys are amazing! Thank you so much for all of the support and follows! Thank you especially to AndurilofTolkein and Ngunsk for reviewing! I really appreciate it! I had no idea anyone would read this! Thank you!**

Loki loaded into the small ship. Glancing over the elaborate control panels, buttons, and levers with unease.

"As soon as you find any of the Stones, send a signal with that panel on the right." The Chutari footman said.

"I think I got it." Loki said impatiently. The Chutari footman's ram-like faceseemed disappointed and maybe even angry.

"Is there a problem?" Loki asked.

The Chutari scowled. "You led twelve of my brothers to their deaths on Earth."

"My condolences." Loki said half heartedly. "And your master, Thanos killed my brother. Perhaps we are even, then?"

The Chutari's gnarled face did not soften. "I hope Thanos ends up killing you." The Chutari turned and left before Loki could speak. Loki tried to shake of unease, sighing, and placing his hands over the ship console. He found the speed throttle to his right, like a wheel-shaped lever, and pressed his hand onto it. The ship's engine hummed to life and shot forward. The ship itself was fairly easy to stear, and Loki found little trouble with doing so. He found alien-inscribed buttons on the ceiling in languages that were not his first or second, but Loki knew them well enough to translate them. He found the cloaking switch and immediately activated it when the small orb of Earth appeared in the distance. Double-checking every security and stealth control, Loki proceeded swiftly towards Earth. He could barely believe what was happening. He could barely believe that he was once-again enslaved by Thanos. The previous time he had served Thanos was hell; continually being tortured and taunted by Thanos's children until he was beaten into loosing all will of freedom. This time, there wasn't really anything to live for. Thor was dead. Asgard was destroyed. All Loki had was his own life, which wasn't even his anymore.

Loki shook out of these thoughts as he neared earth. He found the growing form of the United States, aiming northeast for New York. He was soon skimming above treetops before the towering cluster of skyscrapers came into sight. Loki recognized the buildings from his previous time there, but turned away from the densest cluster and toward Bleaker Street. Loki's spacecraft was invisible, so Loki had no trouble finding an discrete area nearby where he could park the small vessel. Loki sat in the cockpit for a moment sighing from exhaustion and rubbing at his injured throat subconsciously. He watched average-class Midgardians walk down the street, talking, riding on bicycles or skateboards and go past him without a clue or care in the world. Loki almost wished that he could have that opportunity. Just be a worry-free beast without Titans threatening to choke the breath out of your lungs, or the looming, inconfronted fact that his brother may truly be dead. It seemed numbingly peaceful, and yet disgusting at the same time.

Loki sighed, letting an illusion of wealthy Midgardian attire shift over his skin in a soft green light. It was a black tuxedo; one of his favorite disguises. Once again noticing that his skin was faintly glowing from the Power Stone, Loki covered that with an illusion as well. He stepped out of his ship, glancing around carefully, then crossed the street to go to the looming, ornate building of the Sanctum Sanctorium. Loki hesitated before he entered, debating whether he should disguise himself as Thor before entering. He didn't wish to be sent falling through a portal for thirty minutes or longer once again, but Loki froze as he reached the broad doors, hearing clatter, and a familiar voice;

"Thanos is coming."

It was Bruce's Banner! Loki surprised himself by the feeling of relief. He had never thought he would ever be pleased by the presence of the small Hulk-man, but was overjoyed to have a possible ally in this situation. He just had to convince him that he meant no harm, while subtly probing around enough to find the Time Stone and signal Thanos's followers. It seemed pretty fool-proof at the moment, so Loki pushed the door open and went inside.

Loki could see a wide, tall staircase at the entrance, and two of those Midgardian sorcerers standing about half-way up the first flight. Loki instantly recognized Doctor Strange, but the other sorcerer was unfamiliar to him. Their backs were turned and they seemed to be stopping over a giant crater in the staircase. A wall above that had a large hold through it too. Loki quietly stepped closer, taking as many steps up the staircase as he could risk without being spotted, and peered over through the demolished section of stairs. Bruce lay half-naked amidst a scattered heap of wood and rubble. His eyes were fading from green to back to brown and they were filled with fear. Doctor Strange seemed to notice Loki behind him, and conjured a whip made of golden light, whirling around to face him. Loki took a step back nervously, putting his hands up in a gesture of innocence.

"I..." Loki began, but Bruce shakily got to his feet, pointing.

"Loki!" Bruce said, his voice a little lighter.

Loki forced a smile. "Ah... Hello, Bruce."

Doctor Strange frowned, gripping the golden whip of light, and gaining a defensive pose.

"What are you doing here? I thought your brother was taking you back to Asgard!"

Loki frowned. "Ah, yes... Asgard was destroyed."

"Like I should believe you." Doctor Strange drawled.

"N-no! It's true!" Bruce said.

"Shut up." Doctor Strange held up his free hand. "You just fell out of the sky and crashed into the most important magical place in America, and the God of Mischief decides to show up!"

"But I'm an Aveng-"

"Eh!" Doctor Strange quipped. Bruce frowned, looking at Loki.

"Where's Thor?" Bruce asked.

Loki stopped and bowed his head. "He's dead. Thanos killed him."

Doctor Strange stared at him scrutinously. Loki stared back, mainly at Doctor Strange's necklace. He was once again aware of the humming, cold feel of magic emanating from it. Loki's few doubts on the Stone dissolved instantly. He had to get word back to Ebony Maw...


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you for all of the follows and reads! You guys are amazing! Thank you especially to Natalie Rushman for that wonderful review! Sorry for all of the typos thus far; I've been on-the-go a lot lately, so I've been writing most of this on my phone.**

 **When I watched Infinity War for the first time, I wondered how Thanos was able to pinpoint the exact locations of the Infinity Stones on Earth, so I created my own explanation of this chapter. I think in the movie, Thanos could just... sense the stones, but I thought that was a weak explanation.**

 **But anyways... Onward!**

Doctor Strange stared hard at Loki doubtfully.

"Thor Odinson is dead? Well, I _really_ wonder who was responsible, _God of Mishief_."

Loki glared at Doctor Strange with narrowing eyes. "What? My _brother_ is _dead_! And you are accusing me of his fate?"

Doctor Strange began to speak, but Bruce stepped forward.

"Thor's dead? What happened? How did you escape?"

Loki weighed his next words carefully. He was wasting enough time talking with them, and he knew that he had to send the signal to Ebony Maw soon, or else Thanos may grow suspicious.

"I... I assume you remember Thanos?" Loki said slowly.

Bruce shuddered, but nodded. Doctor Strange narrowed his eyes in curiosity.

"He killed Thor." Loki said. "I assume he killed the rest of the Asgardians as well. Heimdal was killed shortly after you left. And..."

Loki considered telling Bruce the truth. Bruce had already proven himself as a formidable ally, and he believed to have gained his trust through their endeavors together lately. And Bruce was a Midgardian healer. Perhaps if he told Bruce what had happened, Bruce could heal his throat so that Loki may become independent on the Power Stone. Then he would be free to fight against Thanos to avenge his brother... But it seemed too much of a gamble. Bruce may not even have to skill to heal him, and the Avengers may turn against him. Loki decided to just stick a toe on each of the sides to figure out how to go about this. Hopefully everything would work out.

Loki sighed, continuing, "I... I didn't escape. Thanos controlled me to attack New York, and I fear he may try to control me again. I cannot help you fight Thanos, as much as I greatly desire to avenge my brother. Though I regret to say this, you must assemble the Avengers to defeat Thanos. He seeks to gain the six Infinity Stones. If he gains them, he will be impossible to defeat."

Loki felt he had said too much, but at least he did not expose his full position. Doctor Strange seemed skeptical at this.

"Why would you tell us this?" He asked, lowering his golden whip.

"Because I cannot join your cause. Not yet. But I want Thanos to be punished for what he has done. Soon, perhaps even today, an alien by the name of Ebony Maw will attack to retrieve your Infinity Stone. Prepare yourselves because he is powerful. Now I really need to go."

Loki turned to leave, but Bruce grabbed his wrist.

"What's going on, Loki? Where are you going? You can stay with us! We can fight Thanos together! I know you're not as bad as I thought you were."

"I can't stay." Loki said. "You won't understand."

He shook off Bruce's grip and left. He could sense Doctor Strange approaching quickly from behind, but Loki slid out the doors before Strange could reach him and jogged across the street to where his ship was parked. Loki quickly pressed onto the ship's communication panel, recording a brief message of where the Time Stone was. He hoped that Bruce and even that annoying Doctor Strange may be able to hold off Thanos's children.

Loki sat within the invisible vessel for a while nervously considering returning back to Thanos's ship, but was terrified of confronting the Titan again. Maybe he could linger on earth for a while with the excuse of locating the other Infinity Stone. A short while later, he was aware of an orange glow within the Sanctum Sanctorium's windows. He recognized the shape of the glow being one of Doctor Strange's annoying portals. At first, Loki disregarded this, before briefly seeing Tony Stark's face emerge from the portal. Loki frowned. It had been a while since he had seen Tony Stark, and remembered how powerful his metal armor was. He doubted that emerging from hiding to domestically confront Stark would result in anything peaceful. But he considered Tony Stark for a moment, wondering if he might know where the Mind Stone might be, since the Avengers had taken his Scepter from him last time he had seen Stark. Cursing himself for his stupidity, Loki groaned and left the invisible vessel, throwing an enchantment of invisibility over himself and approached the Sanctum.

Loki leaned against the window of the door, peering inside and listening carefully. Doctor Strange seemed to be explaining the Infinity Stones to Tony Stark by creating an illusion of the Stones floating through the air.

"So all Thanos needs is these Stones?" Tony Stark crossed his arms over his chest

"And then he could create mass destruction on a scale hitherto undreampt of." Doctor Strange to

Tony Stark leaned up against a large pot, quipping, "Did you seriously just say, 'Hitherto undreampt of?'"

"Are you seriously leaning on the Cauldron of the Cosmos?"

Tony Stark straightened up. "Is that what it is?"

Doctor Strange's cloak reached out and slapped Stark. Stark stared at Strange in shock, but quickly recovered his cocky attitude.

"I'm... going to allow that. So if Thanos needs all six Stones, then why don't we throw out this one and the Mind Stone in Scotland."

Loki grinned, pleased at that casually thrown about information. Stark obviously was not the best secret-keeper, and it was working all too well for Loki. Loki backed away from the Santum crossing the street again to go back to the cloaked ship.

Loki was barely finished with sending a second signal, when he saw a massive disk-shaped ship come out of the clouds, blowing loose objects all around by they fierce wind it caused. Loki glanced up at it as it quickly approached over the vast cityscape, an unsettling unease at it approached. He recognized these ships as belonging to the Children of Thanos.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello, beloved readers! Sorry it's been a while... Thank you everyone for sticking with me, and especially thanks to Budjma for the review!**

 **I cannot predict the future, but I'm pretty sure I'm done with this whole "on-the-go" sort of thing that's been going on lately, so yay! Hopefully less typos will surface through the next few chapters!**

 **I also have some really good plot-development in the works for this story (at least... sort of.) compared to some other fanfics that I have written. Unlike the others, this story actually has a point B! Sort of... At least that's something... *Yay!***

 **And pertaining to this and the following chapter, it may not be extremely accurate to the source material since Infinity War clips on this scene haven't really been released yet, but I'll do as well as I can.**

 **Onward!**

It was Ebony Maw and Black Dwarf. Loki glared in distaste. He felt nothing but boiling hatred towards both of them. Loki especially remembered Ebony Maw's eloquent voice taunt him with a placid half-grin on his disfigured face during Loki's time in exile. Loki hated every Child of Thanos, but Ebony Maw may just be his least favorite.

Loki double-checked his invisibility charm subconsciously. He knew that he was deemed one of Thanos's children now, but that did not calm him at the sight of them. Despite him being now well accustomed to being on "the Bad Side", Loki wondered if he could still get his much-desired revenge this way. He felt unsettled and disgusted by following around his brother's murderer like a broken puppy and being unable to use his wit and tricks to get himself out of this position. He knew that he had acquired Bruce Banner's trust so far, which was a start to being on the right side to kill Thanos, but he still doubted he would survive more than an hour after betraying the Titan, after Thanos had so kindly taken the time to demonstrate the consequences. Maybe he could deceive Thanos on his loyalty by doing the tasks that were laid out for him, but also work with Bruce and perhaps some other stand-by's to figure out a way to kill Thanos. He could warn them of Thanos's next moves, and help weaken the Titan from an insider's advantage. If Loki helped Bruce and the others succeed, maybe Loki could take the Power Stone in order to properly heal himself without depending on the Titan. Then he could scavenge the few possible Asgardian survivors of the attack and protect them as their new king. But his plan still seemed too risky...

Loki groaned, frustrated at himself and his own indecisiveness as Ebony Maw began to waltz down the streets and proclaiming that same annoying speech as always. Determined to leave the site of Ebony Maw, and finally heading back towards the Sanctum Sanctorium, Loki had made up his mind. He flung the Sanctum doors open while lifting his charm of invisibility. The startled face of Tony Stark greeted him, alongside the two "sorcerers" and the somewhat pleased Bruce. At the same time, both Tony and Bruce exclaimed, "Loki!", Tony seemed angered and shocked, while Bruce sounded at least mildly happy to see him.

Loki rolled his eyes, pointing towards the Sanctum doors. "Were you preparing for Thanos's Children at all? I told you that they'd be here, and now they're here. Is the Stone safe?"

Doctor Strange nodded. "Yes; I put an insta-burn charm on it for anyone but me."

"Excellent idea." Loki said without much emphasis, feeling as if he could have done better.

Stark still stared at Loki incredulously, pointing. "What on earth are you doing here? I thought you were in Asgard's big house!"

Loki groaned, "Let's leave the formalities behind for a moment and get rid of Thanos's Children, shall we?"

"Why should we trust you?" Stark accused.

Bruce put his hand on his arm. "He's good, Tony."

Loki rolled his eyes again, repeating, " _He's good, Tony._ Fine. Now I believe there are more pressing matters at the moment..."

Loki nodded towards the door. Screaming was heard from outside and sirens blared.

Outside, they began to hurry down the street, seeing people run and scream away from a certain street. Stark kept on glaring at Loki uneasily, but Loki disregarded these looks, used to being stared at by now. The massive, disk-shaped vessel was to be seen hovering over the city and towering over everything. Ebony Maw alongside the towering Black Dwarf was striding slowly and deliberately down the street, speaking in his silky, disgustingly calm voice; "Hear me, and rejoice! For you are about to die at the hands of the Children of Thanos."

Loki's eyes widened when he realized that at any moment, Ebony Maw would notice Loki alongside Thanos's opposers. Loki gasped, getting out of the way and hiding behind a car for cover. Stark glanced at him in confusion, but glared back at Ebony Maw as he continued,

"Be thankful that your meaningless lives are now contributing to the balance of the-"

"I'm sorry the Earth is closed today!" Stark interrupted. "You gotta pack it up and get outta here!"

Ebony Maw's placid pale face twitched in anger. "Stone-keeper, does this chattering animal speak for you?"

Doctor Strange stepped forward, conjuring glowing shields of magic, "Certainly not. I speak for myself. You're trespassing in this city and on this planet."

"He means get lost, Squidward!" Stark quipped.

Ebony Maw sneered, putting his fingertips together and spoke softly to Black Dwarf. The giant alien hefted his axe and charged.

Loki ducked back in alarm as it came towards them. He stared at Stark in surprise as his golden and scarlet armor was suddenly wrapping around him from out of nowhere. Loki huffed, thinking, _W_ _hat a show-off._ Stark's new armor was very bulky and shiny, and looked a little bit too computerized. If Loki had been in the position to choose Stark's armor, he would have preferred one of the older models of armor that he had confronted before during the Chutari attack. Thin strips of metal floated out of the back of Stark's suit and jets of bright light shot out of them towards Black Dwarf. Black Dwarf got knocked backwards onto the side of a building. Rubble rained down over the alien as it struggled to get back up.

Bruce gaped at Stark in awe. "Whoa! What was that?"

"Nanotech suit with some clatomic functions. You like it?"

"Yeah-"

Bruce froze as the Black Dwarf finally got back to his feet and Ebony Maw lifted his hand leisurely and a car floated into the air at his side. The Maw repositioned his hand, preparing to throw.

Stark noticed this with distaste and unease. "Oh boy. Here comes the party. Planning on bringing out your jolly green giant?"

Bruce nodded uneasily. "Oh yeah. Sure." He grit his teeth and muttered. "C'mon, Max!"

A flush of green color spread over his threat, but quickly faded away. Bruce tensed up, gritting his teeth harder and grunted in effort.

Stark glanced toward him in concern. "You 'kay buddy? Where's our guy?"

Bruce grimaced awkwardly. "Oh yeah... well Hulk and I are sort of having this thing..."

Stark pointed at the two advancing aliens. "Nonononono... this is no time for a thing. That over there is a thing-"

Ebony Maw hurled his arm toward them and the levitating car was flung towards them. Stark and Bruce instinctually ducked, but Doctor Strange enlarged his golden shield charm for the car to come smashing against it right in front of their faces.

Stark whirled around to glare at Bruce. "Any moment, thinking of helping out?"

Bruce clenched his fists, groaning in effort. Doctor Strange momentarily lowered his hands a hair to stare at Bruce with wide, incredulous eyes.

Stark leaned towards Bruce, whispering, "Dude, you're embarrassing me in front of the wizards."

Bruce sighed, frowning in defeat. "I don't understand..."

Loki peered behind the car he was hiding behind, a little puzzled at first that Hulk wasn't coming out of the little man to come smash the aliens, but realized the Hulk must have been afraid after getting ultimately mauled by Thanos back on the Asgardian ship.

"Bruce." Loki whispered, shaking his head. "It's not happening. I would advise seeking cover."

Bruce groaned, but reluctantly nodded, beginning to step away from the action just as Doctor Strange's shield charm broke away at Ebony Maw throwing two more cars st them. The lit up in sparks, exploding at the impact with the shield, then the shield flickered away. Doctor Strange tried to conjure up another shield, but Black Dwarf came running through the rubble with a furious roar before Strange could get far enough with the spell. Iron Man shot beams of white light from his hands at the towering Dwarf. Black Dwarf roared again, waving around his huge axe furiously, but didn't yield.

"Bruce, get out of here!" Stark yelled.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey guys! Sorry my updates have been a lot less frequent. I sowwwy...**

 **But anyways, thank you everyone so much for all of the follows and reviews, especially to CrazyGoatLady, AnnaTheEmporium, and Guest!**

 **Onward!**

Loki reached forward, grabbing the back of Bruce's shirt. "Come on."

Bruce, jumped, but looked to see Loki trying to get him away from the danger, and nodded.

Loki changed his grip to Bruce's sleeve and started running away towards his invisible pod. He was a little disappointed that Bruce was so much slower than him at a sprint, slowing Loki down more than he would have been okay with. Loki could almost feel Ebony Maw's glare down his back and winced, feeling like he was done-for if the Maw realized who he was. His fears were confirmed instantly when he heard Ebony Maw's icy voice call out to him,

"Odinson!"

Loki grimaced, looking over his shoulder to see Ebony Maw levitating not far behind him with a floating car at his side. Iron Man and the two sorcerers seemed to be too preoccupied with the Black Dwarf to notice Ebony Maw slipping away from the general action to confront Loki. Loki internally shivered down to his toes, but showed no external signs of fear as he had always practiced to do. He stopped in his tracks, turning on his heel to face the Maw.

"What?" Loki snarled.

Bruce stopped and looked up at Loki in confusion.

"I don't believe befriending our current threats would have been part of your orders from the Great Thanos."

Loki rolled his eyes, motioning for Bruce to stay put and stomped closer to Ebony Maw. He whispered in anger,

"You're foiling my cover! What do you _think_ I'm doing? I'm gaining their trust! Finding their weakest points! I've already found plenty! I'll relay the found information to Thanos as soon as I can, but I assure you that my loyalties remain concrete! Don't ruin this for me! Go fight the other guys!"

Ebony Maw's eyes twitched in anger, but he seemed mostly unmoved. "Watch your next moves carefully, God of Mischief. You know the consequences."

Loki rolled his eyes again as Ebony Maw turned and left, throwing the levitating car at Doctor Strange as soon as he turned. Doctor Strange spun back time with a flash of green light, and the car was turned to scraps of factory metal. Loki sighed, turning around to continue running. He grabbed Bruce's arm again, breaking into a quick sprint.

"What was that all-"

"Focus on running now, Bruce." Loki snarled. "You're slow enough as it is."

Loki caught Bruce's confused glance at his side, but ignored it, leading Bruce to an empty grassy park with a fountain in the middle. He stopped there, letting Bruce catch his breath.

"What was that all about?" Bruce asked.

Loki grit his teeth, hissing quietly, " _Not right here,_ Bruce. _Someone_ might be listening."

Bruce's eyes lit up with realization, "You gained his trust?"

"Perhaps." Loki said. "If a _certain person_ doesn't blow this for me..."

Bruce nodded slowly. "Oh... Right..."

"Now shut up, Bruce." Loki said, looking over at the battle in the distance. Iron Man and Doctor Strange were powerful, but Ebony Maw was a match for their power, and Black Dwarf a match for their strength. They were smashing each other into buildings, and Ebony Maw seemed to be massacring every car on the street to throw at them. Black Dwarf threw his axe at Iron Man, hurling him backwards and colliding into a nearby tree. Bruce ran over to him.

"How we doing? Okay man?"

Iron Man was implanted into the ground, but slowly got up.

"Really, really good. Planning on helping out?"

"I've been trying. Hulk won't come out."

"Watch out!" Loki hissed, shoving Bruce to the side. Bruce ducked and gasped as Black Dwarf came running towards them, throwing his axe again, but narrowly missed. The axe slammed into a tree, which fell over. Loki and Bruce missed the trunk narrowly, but the narrower leafy branches covered them. Loki was instantly back on his feet, glancing warily at Black Dwarf. He could hear Bruce having some sort of complaint to the shying Hulk behind him, but ignored it. Black Dwarf came charging toward Iron Man, who was still sprawled on the ground, but a small red-and-blue clad figure jumped out of seemingly nowhere to hold back Black Dwarf's axe. A young voice called out cheerfully, and slightly breathless.

"Hey guys!"

Iron Man rolled over, "Kid! Where'd you come from?"

"A field trip!" the red-and-blue person began, but Black Dwarf threw him aside to crash toward the fountain. The kid quickly jumped back up to his feet, shooting narrow cords from his hands which somehow grappled onto the Dwarf's back. The Dwarf whirled around, roaring.

"What's his deal?" the kid yelled.

Iron Man pummeled the Black Dwarf with his pulsars, flying into the air to avoid the Black Dwarf's aggressive blows.

"Oh yeah... He's from space. He's here to steal a necklace from a wizard."

Loki backed away, grabbing Bruce's arm as Iron Man and the new red-and-blue clad soldier battled the Dwarf with vigor.

"Why aren't you helping?" Bruce said.

"Technically, I can't." Loki hissed. "Undercover, remember?"

"Right..."

"Come on." Loki said, dragging him away from the battle. "Can't have the one person who trusts me killed, now can I?" Loki noticed the place where his stealth ship was parked, grinning as it seemed an ideal place to stick Bruce to keep the pathetic little man from getting harmed.

Loki stopped when he saw Ebony Maw fly by with Doctor Strange levitated at his side, unconscious, and lying bound on a concrete slab. He heard Stark say over his shoulder.

"Kid, that's the wizard!"

"I'm on it!" The kid replied, shooting another sort of rope from his hand to grab onto the nearest building, somehow pulling himself forward this way to swiftly trail behind the captive. Loki watched as the kid zoomed out of sight out of the corner of his eye as he kept leading Bruce toward his space vessel, then stopped and froze as he saw the disc-shaped vessel in the distance shooting down a broad beam of light which drew in the silhouette of the unconscious Doctor Strange. Loki cursed under his breath. Thanos could _not_ acquire the Time Stone! He was already powerful enough as it is, and Loki already had so little hope of avenging his brother!

"Stay here, Bruce. Assemble the Avengers. I'll get the Stone." Loki broke into a sprint, running as fast as he could towards the beam. He was beginning to get worried that he might not be able to make it in time, but that red-and-blue spider-kid grappled one of his ropes onto the sorcerer, trying to hold him back. This effort didn't last long, and the kid was quickly overpowered with the strength of the ship's beam, and started floating towards the entrance of the ship with the unconscious Doctor Strange.

"I'm being beamed up!" The kid yelled in panic. Loki grit his teeth, running faster, just reaching the beam of light as the Doctor was beginning to enter the lower entrance of the ship. The spider-boy somehow avoided this route, grappling onto the side of the ship with one of his projectile ropes, and pulled himself free of the beam. Loki leaped into the line of beam light, feeling uneasy as he felt his feet leave the security of the ground and he began to float into the air. He was about halfway to the entrance of the ship when Strange got trapped fully inside and the door shut beneath him. The beam of light instantly ceased. Loki gasped, feeling weightless for a moment and began to come plummeting towards the ground, which was at least a couple hundred feet away. He stared in horror at the approaching ground with his eyes wide with alarm and terror, but suddenly he felt something grab his back. An alien force jerked him upwards and Loki looked up, realizing it was the kid. Loki was drawn upwards swiftly by one of the kids ropes. Now up close, Loki realized it wasn't any sort of rope, but more like as spider web. As soon as the kid ceased pulling him, and Loki reached the lower level of the disc-shaped ship, Loki grabbed onto the side of the vessel, pulling himself upwards and panting in relief and exhaustion.

"Oh, God! You okay, man?"

Loki looked up to see the masked face staring back at him. In was a little unnerving not to see the face of this stranger, but Loki could tell enough from the voice alone. Young. Perhaps just about 16 in Midgardian years. A male. Determined. Though an underplaying hint of fear.

Loki nodded, and the kid gasped. "Oh, God! You're him!"

Loki groaned, realizing where this conversation was heading and didn't care anymore. He glanced down at the ground as it grew further and further away. Then Iron Man came into sight, zooming through the clouds with what appeared to be a bulky rocket at his side. Loki heard gasping beside him and noticed that the spider-kid seemed to be having trouble breathing. His tore off his mask and his mouth was wide and agape with effort to breathe. Loki barely began to notice the thinning of the air, and guessed that Midguardians must be several times more sensitive to slight changes of altitude.

"Can't breathe... oh God..." the kid gasped shallowly, grabbing onto the side of the vessel for support.

Iron Man quickly flew closer until he was nearly directly behind them.

"Hand in there, kid!" And the rocket-like projectile beside him short towards the kid. The kid became limp, falling backwards, but the rocket-think collided onto his back, red, metal-plated armor materializing around him. The kid jumped up, grabbing once again onto the space vessel's side and stood up.

"Mr. Stark, it smells like a new car in here!"

Loki rolled his eyes at the Midguardian, searching around the surface of the disc-ship for some sort of opening or door that he could climb inside. His eyes locked onto one, which was sealed shut and lay several feet above him. Loki leaped upward, grabbing onto a rough pipe, and conjured a small knife into his spare hand. He drove the knife into the crack of the door, wedging it securely within the crack, then pushed hard onto the handle to loosen the door. The kid behind him seemed to get what he was doing and shot a web over Loki's shoulder to grab onto the door. At the same time, Loki pulled at the gap with his knife, and the kid tugged hard on his web until the door finally broke loose. Loki closed his hand, letting the knife dissolve from sight, then he peered inside.


	7. Chapter 7

**Once again, fantastic readers; thank you SO much for all of your support as always! And I apologiz again for the less frequent updates lately, but I've been trying to juggle real life with this, and I'm trying to head towards getting my real, original books finished and published. That has been a bigger priority up my list, but don't worry, guys! I haven't forgotten about good old Loki!**

 **Onward!**

Inside the doorway, there was a dead end of an air lock. Loki groaned, seeing the reinforced titanium door holding him back from entering. He seemed at a dead, but entered into the small, dark airlock, preferring it to out in the open on top of the inner ring of the ascending ship. The spider-kid followed him, his form stiff, and Loki could see that he was uncomfortable.

"You're- you're Loki." The kid stammered.

Loki rolled his eyes. " _Really?_ I couldn't have ever known. Thank you for telling me that. Now I believe there are more important matters to tend to at the moment. Do you know how to get this open?"

The kid's facial expression was hidden by the mask, but Loki could tell by slight twitches of the weight shifting to his left leg that he was hesitant.

"I don't think so..."

It was clear that the kid was lying and didn't want to trust Loki. Loki sighed impatiently.

"I'm not here to steal the Stone. I don't want the Time Stone. I merely wish to prevent Thanos from taking more lives. If you don't let me in there right now, Ebony Maw may have succeeded in overpowering Strange's protective enchantments and secured the Stone. Time is of the essence. I must act quickly to prevent these things from happening if I can, and you seem to be the only candidate capable of helping me at the moment."

The kid sighed, still cautiously keeping his distance. He glanced at the airlock control panel on the wall. It was a sleek grey with a panned of buttons, and a blue lit screen.

Groaning to himself, the kid went forward, reaching for the panel and removing the cover layer of it. His eyes widened as he saw wires and circuits arranged and colored far differently than that of earth's technology.

"Oh god." the kid mumbled. He tapped the side of one of the circuits, and his metal suit's finger reshaped itself to connect effectively with the circuit. Sparks instantly lit up on his fingertip and the kid jumped.

"Ouch! Darn it! Okay... Karen, you think you can override the security?"

Loki looked around, wondering who this "Karen" was.

There was a brief pause before another spark on the kid's fingertip and then the airlock slid open.

"Yes!" The kid cheered, jumping forward to enter further into the ship. Loki put out an arm to hold him back.

"Careful; we don't want to alert our opponent."

The kid nodded. His helmet dematerialized, revealing the kid's face again. Loki couldn't help but infer why someone so young would stand up against such a powerful evil. Loki sighed, and they both cautiously entered. They were on a higher catwalk-sort of overlook. The interior of the ship was grey steel and a rough metal railing separated the two from a fifteen-foot fall. Further into the ship, he could see Doctor Strange restrained by an invisible force, levitating face-down in the air with hundreds of glass-like needles surrounding him. Ebony Maw stood above him, seeming to gloat and threaten Strange with the floating needles. Loki glanced to his right, seeing Iron Man approach them from the side of the catwalk. Nearby, Doctor Strange's cloak floated around aimlessly. Stark's helmet dematerialized. He glanced at the floating cloak.

"Wow... You're one loyal piece of hardware. And speaking of loyalty-"

The spider-kid raised his hands defensively. "I know what you're going to say to me-"

"You shouldn't have come." Stark said.

"I was gonna go home-"

"Don't want to hear it!" Stark said sternly.

"But it was such a long way down- and this suit is rediculously intuitive by they way, so if anything, it's your fault!"

Stark glared. The kid recoiled.

"Okay, I take that back... and now I'm in space..."

"Yeah." Stark snapped. "The one place I didn't want you to be in. This isn't Coney Island or some field trip! This is the one-way ticket!"

Loki groaned at the cattiness of most mortals.

"Alright, arguing won't turn back time, but that Stone can. Speaking of... I believe our damsel is in dire distress."

"And _you!"_ Stark growled. "Why are you even here? What sort of mind-control little tricks did you do to Bruce to make him all of a sudden be your guard puppy? Thor told us you were dead, and now you show up all of a sudden as a loving god who wants to help out? I'm not buying it!"

Loki groaned again. "You mortals are so petty. Don't you believe we have things of higher priority to work on, rather than squabbling about like a couple of pigeons."

Stark narrowed his eyes. "You keep on avoiding the topic on why you're 'good' now."

"Well maybe, I don't know, _because my brother died!"_

All three of them stared in disbelief. Loki was humiliated and unbelieving that he had admitted anything even loosely related to his personal feelings, and this utterance had revealed the biggest trouble and burden to his mind and spirit. Loki grit his teeth, frustrated with himself and turned away with a shaky sigh.

The kid gasped, "Wait, Thor is dead?"

Loki impatiently glanced at Ebony Maw as the captor continued to torture and taunt Doctor Strange. He pursed his lips.

"We must move with haste if we are to prevent my brother's murderer from acquiring more power. The Doctor seems at his last strength. We need to act quickly."

Loki was grateful when neither of his grudging allies provoked the topic further, though when he turned to look back at them, Stark seemed to be painfully restraining himself from making a rude quip at Loki.

"Okay. We need a plan." Stark said, still glancing at Loki with unease and suspicion. He looked at the kid. "Got a plan? Go."

The kid thought with effort for a second, but his eyes lit up.

"Umm... okay. Have you ever seen that really old movie, Alien?"


End file.
